GRADUS AD PARNASSUM
SINCE CRAVEN LAYCOCK '96 is GONE, and it had to happen, and the shock of his passing has struck the Dartmouth fellowship a heavy blow, we like to have the Undergraduate Issue of this MAGAZINE carry the final chronicle of his life. He belonged to the undergraduates of his time. He belongs to the Dartmouth of all time.
The Dean made many trips among the alumni. His eloquent evangelism drew men to the meetings from far and near. Banquet halls filled with devoted followers heard his moving addresses on the College. But the finest speeches he ever made were delivered in the Dean's Office to an audience of one. They were brief, intimate talks, to the point, with tones and half-tones and changes in voice that cut a man through to his soul, that straightened his shoulders, that made his heart sing with joy, that took away boyhood and put manhood in its place.
"Don't cry, son. I know how you feel. There's only one thing to do—go home and take care of your mother. Take your Dad's place. And after a little time come back, for we'll be glad to see you."
The scenes in the Dean's Office were not always thus. Often there was fire and steel in his eye, a lash in his voice "They tell me you are cutting classes, that you've been drinking.". . . .At such times the characteristic set of his jaw, the gestures, voice, and changes of expression on his face dramatized the scene to the nth degree. A kind word of congratulation for an A that you worked hard to get, and he knew it, meant a great deal coming from him. The only motive Craven ever had was to help men find themselves. He was willing to be a Dutch Uncle or a close friend or whatever elsel was required to do it. Not all men could use his methods. He could and did, with what success a host of men now testify.
Up until the early morning of April 4 he thought of us, just about all of us, as youngsters no matter how rich, poor, fat or famous we've since become. That's the way our fathers and mothers remember us. It is the kind of picture we have of our own children—what happened and what they were like at five, ten, and fifteen. Craven knew us when we were twenty. He knew and never forgot.
The Dean did not live nearly as long as Dartmouth1 wanted him to. But for more than three score and ten his was a full, whole life. In the late years of retirement it had been especially calm, unhurried, cheery, pleasant. There is a philosophy, as we like to say, or a distinctive principle of living that we inherit from Craven Laycock. This is a faith in the good in men. He was confident that mental fibre, capacity for achievement, integrity and character, were present in every man only awaiting a strong influence, an awakening, to be brought clearly and permanently to the surface. It is the spirit of the Christian religion. It was his faith in Dartmouth at 20. We, no longer 20, will not forget.
THE AMAZING ACHIEVEMENTS of the Alumni Fund have been recorded in charts and graphs, in these pages last month (for the 1939 campaign), in the press, in speeches, books, and reports. But nothing better shows the record over a period of years than the mailbags that carried personal notes last month to the "Dartmouth Regulars." Letters were sent by the chairman of the Fund Committee, Sumner B. Emerson '17, to men who have contributed regularly during either the last ten or more consecutive years, or every year since graduation.
Mr. Emerson very correctly noted, in his communication to the "Dartmouth Regulars," the extent to which "the notable success of the Fund has been due to the faithful support of a considerable group of Dartmouth men who have contributed to the Fund without interruption over a period of years." The cumulative effect of forming the habit of a gift every year is clearly a demonstration of the strength thereby given to the Fund. If thousands of men, and the number is constantly growing, never miss a year the permanent and increasing success of the Alumni Fund can be anticipated with confidence by the Alumni Council.
Just now the class agents are asking their classes to send their 1940 gifts promptly. To protect their locks from becoming thin and gray, to further the chances of success of the Fund as a whole, the early contributions are the most helpful.
THE DIGNIFIED, MAJESTIC, and altogether wonderful New York Times which doesn't do this sort of thing very often carried the following announcement:
"The vice chairmanship of the National Committee for Plannted Parenthood to represent the New England States has been accepted by Ernest M. Hopkins, president of Dartmouth College."
Ford Sayre '33, alert manager of the Inn, commented to Mr. Hopkins that if he would plant a few parents in Hanover during the slack months of March and April the Inn would appreciate the business.
ZEEB OILMAN '63 OF REDLANDS, CAL., is rounding this month, May 13, into his 99th year. We're happy to pay honor to Dartmouth's oldest living graduate. We'll do the same for any of you when you're 99. So far as we know the oldest graduates of other institutions are practically youngsters compared to Mr. Gilman, just in their early nineties. Happy Birthday to him!
THE FIRST APPEARANCE of the engraving shown at the head of these Gradus notes this month was in E. H. Charlton's publication, New Hampshire as It Is, published in Claremont, N. H. in 1855. It shows the College in 1852 and was drawn and engraved by J. W. Watts of Boston. The same engraving also appears as a frontispiece in the book, Centennial Celebration at Dartmouth College, published in Hanover in 1870. E, H. Kimball, class of 1852, was the originator and sponsor of the engraving.
THESE NOTES WOULD NOT be complete this year without complimenting the basketball team on winning the Eastern Intercollegiate League championship for the third successive year. Some months ago the team appeared to have little hope of successfully defending its 1939 title. Here again is an instance, of which there are other examples in other Big Green sports of recent years, of superlatively fine coaching and a distinctive will to win in the team. Captain White's leadership was extraordinary. While opponents devoted the attention of two or three men to Broberg, with indifferent success, Sullivan, Pearson and others went merrily to town.
If the basketball team is a good sample of other teams in late years, Osborne Cowles also typifies the quality and character of the men who are coaching Dartmouth teams. He's the kind of man you'd like to have teaching and coaching your son. He won't have a "Big Gus" Broberg every year but he and his teams are always a credit to the College.
IN REFERENCE TO Professor J. P. Richardson's and Harold Tobin's letter to the editor last month, pointing out that this ought to be a good year for the movement they are so capably fostering, "Dartmouth-In-Politics," we're happy to give our blessing to anything that will put more college men, and for some reason we're especially fond of Dartmouth men, into politics and public life. So more power to them in getting Democrats acquainted with Democrats, especially if Jim Farley knows their first names. There's even more need for Republicans to get together—they are still looking for a good candidate.
"Dartmouth-In-Politics" enjoys the gradual growth of a sound movement. It will be a happy day, and we believe the day will come when it can point to enough aldermen, mayors, governors, and top men in Washington to feel a glow of pride for a share in work very much worth while.
